The Government has asked councils across the country to develop a plan for Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) which will see all existing councils replaced with a smaller number of unitary councils that are responsible for all council services.
KCC’s administration believes that a single unitary council would deliver the best outcomes for Kent residents to quickly bring about cost savings for taxpayers while ensuring that local communities can have their say on how services in their area are run.
A single unitary has the added benefit of avoiding the substantial costs that would come with reconfiguring the county into multiple councils which is being proposed through other LGR options. This could see an additional cost of up to £40 million every year to run four unitary councils and could result in council tax increases or reductions in service to cover the costs.
“I remain unconvinced that the full cost of LGR has been explored or understood in any detail by anyone involved in this process.”
Linden Kemkaran writes: “I remain of the view that the cost implications and risk to service quality of disaggregating significant and complex KCC services into smaller unitary councils is of very high risk and therefore unacceptable.
“I remain unconvinced that the full cost of LGR has been explored or understood in any detail by anyone involved in this process. I am deeply concerned that the cost will ultimately be borne by the Kent taxpayer. I believe that this scenario should be avoided at all costs.”
KCC’s plan of creating a single unitary council for Kent and Medway is predicted to deliver significant savings, including a saving of £16.2 million a year on providing social care services and support for children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities, money that can be put back into council services.
While many key council services such as social care and transport planning would be delivered on a countywide basis, benefitting from economies of scale and minimising disruption for residents, three Area Assemblies would also be established as part of the one unitary council model, covering the North, East and West of the county.
The Area Assemblies would take responsibility for some local services and support, including libraries and leisure facilities, the maintenance of roads and decisions on planning applications. This will allow flexibility about how these services are provided in different parts of the county so they can best meet the needs and views of local communities.
KCC has been working collaboratively with district and borough councils and Medway Council to identify and assess a number of models as part of the LGR process.
At a meeting of Kent Council Leaders on 3 September, Leaders voted for two of the other options to be developed into business cases for government - one that would create three unitary councils and another that would create four.
KCC’s preferred single unitary option did not gain a majority of votes and KCC will now develop its own business case for the single unitary council alongside the collective submission.
Cllr Kemkaran continued in her letter: “I hope the above…provides reassurance that, despite our differences of opinion, KCC will continue to act in good faith through the LGR process."
The proposals need to be submitted by the 28 November deadline stipulated by Government.
Further information
You can view the full letter from Linden Kemkaran to Kent Leaders
